I once dated a woman who had owned a Dart that once belonged to Jon Voight. Whether this was the car that mutated into a Le Baron on Seinfeld, I don’t know, and it certainly didn’t affect the value, either way. She was driving an Omni when I met her, and not because she’d cashed in on the Dart.

Papal or Marilyn Monroe provenance definitely does make a car worth more, although it’s more important with cars that have their own intrinsic value (Elvis’s BMW 507 would bring a greater percentage over market value than, say, his Chevy II). As the owner becomes less famous or the film role less prominent, the added value curve drops off rapidly. “Wow! Jenna Elfman’s V-6 Mustang! I’d pay literally 25 to 30 extra dollars for that!” And at some point, the curve flattens out entirely. “‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper’s Fiero? Who?”

But when does that happen? When do you get to zero extra dollars on a sale? We’ll find out when Express opens their annual Ocean City auction this weekend in Maryland with at least three two* cars that, while fine in their own right, have some distant celebrity provenance attached.

The unquestioned poster child for the B car genre is a 1964 Comet Caliente that enjoyed a minor role in David Spade’s Joe Dirt, an updated version of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, with Spade in the Henry Fonda role. While Tom Joad was in search of a better life in California, Joe Dirt is, of course, in search of his parents, and later, his Charger Daytona.

I’m informed I may be off base on the Grapes of Wrath part, but I’m sure he had a Hemi Charger. And apparently, there was also a ’64 Mercury Comet Caliente convertible in there somewhere. Something about a fireworks stand? I don’t remember it (yes, I saw it – car movie, of course I saw it), but that’s what the Express consignor says. So there you go, ladies and gentlemen: The Joe Dirt Comet.

It’s a built 289 making 320hp, with aluminum heads, three two-barrels and some other goodies. A seller wanted $18,500 retail before the sale. But I think they were underestimating the power of the Joe Dirt halo.

But wait, there’s more! Sadly, Express couldn’t provide any pictures but like the Batmobile or Christine, none are needed when you read the words “Cecil B. Demented 1968 Galaxie 500.” Yes, that was apparently a movie, which apparently had a Galaxie 500 convertible in it. It’s a numbers-matching 390 with 68,000 miles, but of course you knew that.

Yes, some stars are fainter than others, but is that not only because of their distance? Do they not burn as bright up close? Surely, even approaching either of these cars in person would be like approaching the surface of our own sun. Watch your wings, Icarus. Watch your wings.

*Express tells us that, alas, an ex-Billy Bob Thornton 1955 Ford panel hot rod has been pulled from the auction.

There is one in the TV show Breaking Bad, and its the main character’s and is seen in all its geekdom almost every episode.It even gets damaged and fixed up, so there might be a whole fleet of them.Oh happy, happy, joy, joy… Aztecs on the auction block…Is this a sign of the Apocalypse???

A glove box door signed by Carrol Shelby only means the owner had $125. Shelby will sign anything for the price or sell his name in a heartbeat. I have a poster from 84′ with a four banger made in germany and a dodge omni and Carrol Shelby proclaiming how the Shelby Charger was the performance car of the future, worse than that remember the dodge Shelby Dakota pick up…..

The Comet is a cool convertible, I really like Comets, from the first ’60 through to the end, the ’69, and I even like the later Maverick-based versions.

More importantly here though, could somebody do some text editing? I had no idea what this writer was trying to say for much of the article. Burying the lead in the third paragraph, that this is a story about an upcoming auction of movie cars, didn’t help. I have no idea what “One single whistlin’ kitty chaser” in the title, means either. Obscure movie references can be used effectively if used sparingly.

Just my two cents from spending the majority of my 54 years on Earth reading car books and magazines, and having spent 30 years professionally designing and editing newspapers, books and magazines.

casey, i don’t believe you have actually watched that movie. call dennis miller and ask him about that line. on a serious note, that says a little about the marke today, 5 years ago that car would have sold easily @ $18000,with or without a mention of its “celeb” status assuming its a decent car. whether that is good or bad i’m not sure but “the times, they are a changin” (thats from bob dylan)

I once drove a Comet Caliente with absolutely NO provenance except that the rear leaf springs were held up with 2x4s, and the owner, who had a bad habit of driving it with a half gallon of vodka tucked between the seats, left it in my driveway while he took off to work on a railroad section gang.

After several weeks I got tired of looking at it and decided to drive it to the local junkyard [legal to do under Ohio law at that time] and scrap it out. On the way over I saw in my rearview a smoke plume worthy of a skywriter – The brakes locked up so badly that I had to abandon it [in the driveway of a petroleum storage facility, no less!] brakes on fire, local VFD on the way. I got in my chase car and, surprisingly, the police just waved us through! – so we went home. Never saw the car or the scrap money again.

Mr. Shaiin may be forgetting that he’s living in the Third World. Having said that, part of our affection for Hemmings is the writing as well as the obvious enthusiasm for the Hobby we love. It’s a good idea to go get a coffee and try this article again.

Huh? Connecticut is the third world? I’m quite familiar with Hemming’s as well. I had a subscription to Special Interest Autos starting in ’73, and have kept every issue, and I have every issue of HCC, and Collectible Automobile. What’s your point? As long as they’re writing about cars, who cares about the actual writing? Sad world, that would be.